Laws & Rights
Half a Loaf Is Better Than None: Big Beautiful Bill and Suppressors
Flickr/Mike Finn
What the gun community really wanted was to remove silencers from the NFA entirely, but that’s off the table for right now.
The “One Big Beautiful Bill” has passed the Senate. We’re disappointed that it did so without the proviso that suppressors would be removed from the National Firearms Act list of items, such as machine guns, that cannot be purchased without extra scrutiny. The problem is that the OBBB is, at its core, a budget reconciliation bill. It’s supposed to directly address government spending. The problem is that the NFA has been in existence for over 80 years, and the question of having silencers on it or not … well, it’s not exactly a budget question.
That, in a nutshell, is why the current version of the OBBB does not address the general legality of suppressors as we had hoped it would. The negotiation was done entirely by Senators; this isn’t a matter of “rights being negotiated away” by anyone in the gun industry or our lobbying groups like the NRA, CCRKBA, and FPC.
However, the government’s ability to collect taxes DOES apply directly to a budget bill, and that’s why the bill in its current form has removed the $200 tax stamp. This may not be the whole loaf of bread we really wanted, but half a loaf is better than none.
Furthermore, the bill is not yet ready for President Trump’s signature! The NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action has the current status … and what you and I can still do to make the OBBB as pretty as possible for law-abiding Americans.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One Big Beautiful Bill Clears Senate, and Heads Back to House
Earlier today the U.S. Senate passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” This bill contained a provision that would, among other things, eliminate the burdensome $200 excise tax imposed by federal law on suppressors, short-barreled firearms, and “any other weapons” as defined by the National Firearms Act (NFA).
This bill has worked its way across Capitol Hill for months and is closer to becoming law than ever before. But it is now headed back to the U.S. House for final passage. If the “One Big Beautiful Bill” is passed by the U.S. House, it will then go to President Trump’s desk for his signature and it will become law.
Far from perfect, this bill represents an opportunity for NRA members and gun owners nationwide to pull back the draconian tax scheme that is the NFA, and we are closer to that goal than ever before.
Your U.S. Representative needs to hear from you! The U.S. House is preparing to move very quickly to pass this bill before the 4th of July, so there’s no time to waste. Please call your U.S. Representative today and urge them to vote YES on the “One Big Beautiful Bill!” If you don’t know the number for your U.S. Representative, you can reach them at (202) 224-3121.
-
Laws & Rights2 months agoUNMUZZLED! Anti-Gunners Howl & Whine Over Suppressors
-
Laws & Rights1 month ago
Anti-Gunners Shriek Like Fishwives Over Silencers
-
Laws & Rights1 month ago
Saddest Lesson: Austrian Gun Control Didn’t Stop School Shooting (But We Know What Would)
-
Laws & Rights2 weeks ago
Second Amendment A-Team in Action: CCRKBA + NRA + NJFOS
-
Laws & Rights2 months agoBummer: Supreme Court Refuses to Hear MD Gun Ban Case
-
Laws & Rights7 days ago
WHODATHUNK? “Gun-Free Zones” Cause Firearm Theft
-
Laws & Rights4 weeks ago
A Tale of Two Sh*ties: NYC vs. Englishtown, NJ
ChiptheBarber
July 6, 2025 at 2:01 pm
I think maybe folks are failing to read and understand the nature and rules that govern this type of bill. Of course, the NFA should never have been passed but we can’t turn back the clock, so…this was the best shot we’ve ever had of getting this garbage off the books. But THIS, this One Big Beautiful Bill is a RECONCILIATION BILL (can ONLY deal with financial matters). That means it can pass the Senate with a simple majority of ONE VOTE—not the normal SIXTY VOTES required in the Senate for passage. Our only hope from the start was that the Parliamentarian MISS the fact that the bill removed suppressors, SBR’s, etc., from the books, and let’s face it, that was never gonna happen anyway. Even if she had missed it, someone from the dark side would have brought it to her attention!! The only way we’re ever going to get rid of it is to ELECT more than the razor-thin majority in the Senate that we have right now. “Disappointing” is not even the word for it, but we can’t just play the blame game. Shoot, we’re gonna have to go back to work and get some ACTUAL pro-Second Amendment folks elected to the US Senate (not this mamby-pamby quiche and Jello salad eating bunch of RINO’s that are in there now!!!).
StLPro2A
July 3, 2025 at 12:14 pm
Trump screwed pro-2A supporters again. Trump comes to annual NRA Conventions, blows smoke up members’ arses about how big 2A supporter he is….leaves and screws us again. If he comes back to 2026 NRA, we’ll run his lyin’ arse out of Houston…..
Duane
July 2, 2025 at 10:29 am
It is organizations like yours that are the reason the NFA still stands. Oh we didn’t get what we demanded, but they gave us this unrelated and trivial win elsewhere, so we’re happy. The issue is not the $200 tax. It is the registration and having to beg for mommy and daddy’s permission to be allowed to go out and play. You sound like any other FUDD.
CD Woods
July 2, 2025 at 5:25 pm
Organization and persistence is key. As the article alludes, the OBBB is a reconciliation measure. This is primarily about budgeting and finance. Hence, our efforts to sneak NFA deletions over the goal line were clever, but they caught us onna technicality and our community doesn’t have the votes to defeat a floor debate (filibuster).
I am also disappointed. But the other aspects of the bill are too important for America’s fabric. Hence, I would not expect J.D.Vance to override. In the end, it is a compromise. However, in the future, lobbyists might even be able to rustle the cause upwards towards the Supreme Court? God knows we have standing… But in the end, let’s not impede progress for perfection’s sake.
Dan Groneman
July 2, 2025 at 8:45 am
Deregulation was the ONLY good part of that abomination of legislation. Don’t shill, it’s a terrible look for the 2a community. Kind of like spending decades fighting a registry only to roll over and take it eagerly because of a $200 discount.